New to forum. Type2.

Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
hello everyone, I was diagnosed type 2 just before Christmas and I must say it has pulled me out of the danger zone, I used to be very fit and had a very physical demanding job then I got promoted and was office based which is not very demanding, I loved everything sweet ,cakes, biscuits, all the wrong stuff and was piling the weight on, oh and I was a binge drinker and heavy smoker, Out of the blue I received a letter from my local doctors surgery to have a check up and as I've not been to the doctors in 40 year I thought I would be OK, I had a full mot on my body, but was shocked at my high blood pressure well they took blood 3 times and I got the news that I had a 46 per cent chance of having a stroke /. Heart attack in the next ten years, well that would get anybody off the couch to change things, I was 16 stone that day and I set out to change things, I cut all suger out and kerbed my drinking, bought a dog and a mountain bike and stopped smoking although I do use an e-cig, I bought my own blood pressure kit and globose tester and set off to beat this by diet and excercise, I now weigh 13.2 still want to lose another stone or more,my blood pressure is ok and blood is usually between 5.4 up to 5.9 I feel I could run a marathon but won't. My next visit to the nurse is next month, I will beat this ****, I know it's hard work and I've a long way to go yet but it won't spoil my life. Good luck to everyone..

Hank.
 
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Liam1955

Master
Messages
10,964
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Anti-Gay People, Self Centre People, Two Faced People and Bad Language.
Hello Hank63. Welcome to the Forum. Any questions - ask away, everybody is so helpful and friendly here.:)
 

Liam1955

Master
Messages
10,964
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Anti-Gay People, Self Centre People, Two Faced People and Bad Language.
There will be someone along presently to give you more information on Diabetes. @daisy1.
 

13lizanne

Expert
Messages
8,262
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
The Gym, + unkindness and rudeness
Well done on changing your life around @Hank63 keep going my man :)
 

Southbeds

Well-Known Member
Messages
260
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Great rolling my sleeves attitude ,by the time you see the nurse you will have your diet sorted .take a look at the low carb forum it turned my health/Life around
 
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daisy1

Legend
Messages
26,457
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Cruelty towards animals.
@Hank63

Hello Hank and welcome to the forum :) Good thing you had that check-up out of the blue and have now been able to turn everything around. To help you to do this, here is the information we give to new members and I hope this will help you to keep your levels under control. It is important to reduce the carbs you eat but you can make it up with fat. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will come along and help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
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Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Yes daisy, since then I've never felt better but it's cost me nearly £400 on new clothes, but that's when you know your weight is going the right way...
 
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Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
hello everyone, I was diagnosed type 2 just before Christmas and I must say it has pulled me out of the danger zone, I used to be very fit and had a very physical demanding job then I got promoted and was office based which is not very demanding, I loved everything sweet ,cakes, biscuits, all the wrong stuff and was piling the weight on, oh and I was a binge drinker and heavy smoker, Out of the blue I received a letter from my local doctors surgery to have a check up and as I've not been to the doctors in 40 year I thought I would be OK, I had a full mot on my body, but was shocked at my high blood pressure well they took blood 3 times and I got the news that I had a 46 per cent chance of having a stroke /. Heart attack in the next ten years, well that would get anybody off the couch to change things, I was 16 stone that day and I set out to change things, I cut all suger out and kerbed my drinking, bought a dog and a mountain bike and stopped smoking although I do use an e-cig, I bought my own blood pressure kit and globose tester and set off to beat this by diet and excercise, I now weigh 13.2 still want to lose another stone or more,my blood pressure is ok and blood is usually between 5.4 up to 5.9 I feel I could run a marathon but won't. My next visit to the nurse is next month, I will beat this ****, I know it's hard work and I've a long way to go yet but it won't spoil my life. Good luck to everyone..

Hank.
 

Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Well been for my 1st visit to DN tonight since I was diagnosed with type 2 ! She Took my blood tested them, blood pressure, weighed me, sat me down and told me I am now borderline diabetic, she wants to see me again in June instead of 6 months time, I have to take an early morning urine sample and if this is ok I could be non diabetic, I have read a lot of posts on here which has helped me so thanks for that, I refused medication at the start and said I would beat it with diet and excersise and am very close to doing so.
 

Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
It's been a while since I posted, am I the only one who forgets that we are diabetic, I never test now and eat what I want, I went to see my DN the other night to get my results and she said everything was satisfactory and I'll see you in 6 months, I still do diet and excercise and have lost over 3 stone, is satisfactory a good word..


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum
 
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Liam1955

Master
Messages
10,964
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Anti-Gay People, Self Centre People, Two Faced People and Bad Language.
@Hank63 - Brilliant, Well Done :).
 

Heretic1

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes!
It's been a while since I posted, am I the only one who forgets that we are diabetic, I never test now and eat what I want, I went to see my DN the other night to get my results and she said everything was satisfactory and I'll see you in 6 months, I still do diet and excercise and have lost over 3 stone, is satisfactory a good word..


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum
@Hank63 Your downward journey 'mirrors' my own, and whilst I'm several months behind you my 'upward' journey to date seems also remarkably similar ..... I just hope I come to a position similar to you in the future. Currently I can't get 'it' out of my mind - let alone forget or even relax about it!

Congratulations - well done you.
 
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Hank63

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
You will get to that position heretic, I think it's mind over matter with me, the only time I am reminded is when I have a hand full of Jaffa cakes and my wife tells me.


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum
 
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Heretic1

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes!
You will get to that position heretic, I think it's mind over matter with me, the only time I am reminded is when I have a hand full of Jaffa cakes and my wife tells me.


Sent from my iPad using DCUK Forum
@Hank63 - I think our diabetic starting positions were different! - I wasn't just borderline I was well into the zone!! - although completely asymptomatic so a MASSIVE shock. Fortunately I have never liked Jaffa cakes - although if it were chocolate digestives it would be VERY different! Equally the 'memsahib' I know will very much police my habits should I stray. If only I'd listened to her nagging in the first place - I probably wouldn't be here!
 
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Prem51

Expert
Messages
7,393
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
*
am I the only one who forgets that we are diabetic
Good to hear your figures are on track @Hank63:) I am over my initial shock at being diagnosed as diabetic, I am more relaxed, perhaps even a bit too complacent now. But I'm not eating as much sugary stuff or carbs as I used to. I am a bit worried that my weight seems to be creeping up a bit though it's still in the healthy range. My fbg readings are ok though, usually in the mid 5s - mid 6s, very rarely over 7. I never forget I am diabetic now.
 

Heretic1

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes!
Good to hear your figures are on track @Hank63:) I am over my initial shock at being diagnosed as diabetic, I am more relaxed, perhaps even a bit too complacent now. But I'm not eating as much sugary stuff or carbs as I used to. I am a bit worried that my weight seems to be creeping up a bit though it's still in the healthy range. My fbg readings are ok though, usually in the mid 5s - mid 6s, very rarely over 7. I never forget I am diabetic now.
@Prem51 I wish! ☹️
 
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